Filed under: Wedding Event Planner
Question:
As a wedding organiser myself based in East Kent, England, I do not work for the supplier but the couple themselves. I take a flat fee from the couple and any commition I get from suppliers go directly to the couple. The wedding is for them not about how much I can make in commition. After all it’s their day. www.designawedding.co.uk
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Is anyone on here that is getting married using the services of a > wedding planner/consultant? If you are not what reasons prevented you > from going that route?
Response:
> I have a coordinator on-site, because I’m having a destination wedding. It > made dealing with contractors much easier. > My first wedding was done without the services of a coordinator … I found > that, after talking with a couple, that they wanted me to have the wedding > *they* wanted. I admit that this may be a freak occurrence, but it didn’t > impress me much. > Three days to go … > Sharon in San Jose
best of luck Sharon for your day. where are you going?? naffi
Response:
>Noe, >I greatly respect your usually on-target information but I would like to make a >comment on your post (above). It sounds like you are making a blanket, >matter-of-fact statement that ALL bridal consultants receive a fee from ALL >vendors. >It is true that in some cases a vendor such as a florist, caterer or >photographer will pay a kickback, usually *politely* called a referral fee, to >the coordinator but it is far from a universally accepted practice, at least >out here in the West coast. In my almost twenty years of full time wedding >photography I have never paid a referral fee to a single coordinator (or anyone >else) and my business is almost 100% referral based.
Hi Rick, I think this is where regionalisms kick in and perhaps a difference in working practices. A coordinator doesn’t receive referral fees from the vendors she books, but her final tab is based on how much business she books. Example, if she books a florist to the tune of $3000, she may add $300 to her final bill for finding and working with the florist and making payment on behalf of the bride. The line on the bride’s bill for floral will read $3300. This is quite common. So while you may enjoy the referral, the coordinator enjoys the benefit of additional income based on the cost of your package. Coordinators in your area may work on a flat fee basis, but I’m not personally familiar with any that do. Hope this helps, Noe
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->That and they >don’t feel their professional coordinator is working for them but for >the vendors since they make a percentage of their fee based on how >much business they can book with the vendors. I witnessed one such >wedding and the bride’s family was just furious by the time the >wedding event was over. Their coordinator over-ruled their plans and >overspent the budget. That coordinator will be closing up shop soon. >Having said that, there are some very good professional coordinators >out there who work for the bride, working to make her "vision" become >reality and working very hard to live within a very tight budget. If >someone is considering a professional coordinator, like florists and >bakers, one needs to shop around. And as with any other vendor, the >bride needs to speak up if something isn’t going right. The >coordinator is supposed to work for the bride so make sure the one you >choose is one you can honestly work with.
Noe, I greatly respect your usually on-target information but I would like to make a comment on your post (above). It sounds like you are making a blanket, matter-of-fact statement that ALL bridal consultants receive a fee from ALL vendors. It is true that in some cases a vendor such as a florist, caterer or photographer will pay a kickback, usually *politely* called a referral fee, to the coordinator but it is far from a universally accepted practice, at least out here in the West coast. In my almost twenty years of full time wedding photography I have never paid a referral fee to a single coordinator (or anyone else) and my business is almost 100% referral based. Best regards, Rick Rosen Newport Beach, CA www.rickrosen.com
Response:
I have a coordinator on-site, because I’m having a destination wedding. It made dealing with contractors much easier. My first wedding was done without the services of a coordinator … I found that, after talking with a couple, that they wanted me to have the wedding *they* wanted. I admit that this may be a freak occurrence, but it didn’t impress me much. Three days to go … Sharon in San Jose
Response:
>I have a coordinator on-site, because I’m having a destination wedding. It >made dealing with contractors much easier. >My first wedding was done without the services of a coordinator … I found >that, after talking with a couple, that they wanted me to have the wedding >*they* wanted. I admit that this may be a freak occurrence, but it didn’t >impress me much.
Actually, this is a common comment I hear from brides. That and they don’t feel their professional coordinator is working for them but for the vendors since they make a percentage of their fee based on how much business they can book with the vendors. I witnessed one such wedding and the bride’s family was just furious by the time the wedding event was over. Their coordinator over-ruled their plans and overspent the budget. That coordinator will be closing up shop soon. Having said that, there are some very good professional coordinators out there who work for the bride, working to make her "vision" become reality and working very hard to live within a very tight budget. If someone is considering a professional coordinator, like florists and bakers, one needs to shop around. And as with any other vendor, the bride needs to speak up if something isn’t going right. The coordinator is supposed to work for the bride so make sure the one you choose is one you can honestly work with. Hope this helps, Noe
Response:
Is anyone on here that is getting married using the services of a wedding planner/consultant? If you are not what reasons prevented you from going that route?
Response:
Question:
Welcome to Harrogate’s Premier Wedding Web Site! In this site you will find all you need to plan a wedding in Harrogate, including a budget planner, to-do lists, suppliers of wedding services, stag and hen party ideas, wedding locations, events, announcements, and lots of other local information.
Response:
Welcome to Harrogate’s Premier Wedding Web Site! In this site you will find all you need to plan a wedding in Harrogate, including a budget planner, to-do lists, suppliers of wedding services, stag and hen party ideas, wedding locations, and lots of other local information. http://www.get-wed.com
Response:
>Welcome to
Yet another UK SPAMMER’S SPAM SITE! Ron Ng Knows!
Response:
Question:
Hi Everyone, I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are archived on my web site. Best regards, Ray LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 http://www.lighthousetravel.com Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase Personal Choice Cruising Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of personalization options. The new web site can be found at www.princess.com. "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of the Princess experience." Voice Your Choice Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a better understanding of what their customers want in order to further tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be reflected in our online poll," said Putman. As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What type of exercise do you do most often? The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do something on vacation." Wed Cam Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the option prior to their ceremony. Site Redesign The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. About Princess Cruises Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. About kpe Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and creative services, website development, original content creation and interactive game development.
Response:
It’s funny, when you are on their site they are pinging your IP address for some reason. My firewall detected that last week. It was something that never happened before the redesign.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Everyone, > I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of > interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are > archived on my web site. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com > Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase > Personal Choice Cruising > Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever > Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online > SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 > Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers > visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions > matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation > experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, > debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" > opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea > nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ > emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has > de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of > personalization options. The new web site can be found at > www.princess.com. > "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a > vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, > which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ > vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler > navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this > theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of > the Princess experience." > Voice Your Choice > Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently > on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and > leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that > shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier > respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a > better understanding of what their customers want in order to further > tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and > onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding > to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be > reflected in our online poll," said Putman. > As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, > the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four > weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely > on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the > scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What > type of exercise do you do most often? > The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, > has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey > findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want > to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of > Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a > powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided > to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus > poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of > respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to > my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 > percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do > something on vacation." > Wed Cam > Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which > provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each > Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In > conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the > Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at > home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their > loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live > cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 > seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast > from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the > Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to > Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the > option prior to their ceremony. > Site Redesign > The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements > reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience > reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features > targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where > users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, > time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps > with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries > and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to > pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. > In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so > users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, > the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ > convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who > has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. > Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor > their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, > entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting > its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal > Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer > both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of > restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and > with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature > that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, > special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; > FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in > advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, > enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the > assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding > which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when > pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. > About Princess Cruises > Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America > cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc > (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries > calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five > ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. > About kpe > Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and > entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and > technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and > creative services, website development, original content creation and > interactive game development.
Response:
Right you are Mike! I keep getting IE messages that they are trying to "cookie" me. Guess we will see in a few weeks tho I kept saying NO to the requests. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > It’s funny, when you are on their site they are pinging your IP address for > some reason. My firewall detected that last week. It was something that > never happened before the redesign. > Hi Everyone, > I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of > interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are > archived on my web site. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com > Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase > Personal Choice Cruising > Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever > Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online > SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 > Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers > visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions > matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation > experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, > debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" > opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea > nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ > emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has > de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of > personalization options. The new web site can be found at > www.princess.com. > "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a > vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, > which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ > vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler > navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this > theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of > the Princess experience." > Voice Your Choice > Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently > on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and > leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that > shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier > respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a > better understanding of what their customers want in order to further > tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and > onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding > to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be > reflected in our online poll," said Putman. > As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, > the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four > weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely > on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the > scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What > type of exercise do you do most often? > The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, > has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey > findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want > to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of > Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a > powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided > to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus > poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of > respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to > my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 > percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do > something on vacation." > Wed Cam > Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which > provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each > Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In > conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the > Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at > home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their > loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live > cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 > seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast > from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the > Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to > Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the > option prior to their ceremony. > Site Redesign > The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements > reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience > reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features > targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where > users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, > time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps > with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries > and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to > pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. > In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so > users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, > the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ > convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who > has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. > Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor > their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, > entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting > its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal > Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer > both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of > restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and > with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature > that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, > special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; > FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in > advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, > enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the > assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding > which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when > pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. > About Princess Cruises > Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America > cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc > (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries > calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five > ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. > About kpe > Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and > entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and > technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and > creative services, website development, original content creation and > interactive game development.
Response:
>They clearly don’t read the information since we had >both filled in our addresses quite correctly.
Hi Carole, Princess, as well as most other cruise lines, take the home city information from the reservation that your travel agent makes. They do NOT use the form that you send in or fill out. Best regards, Ray LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Response:
Oh. Carole
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->They clearly don’t read the information since we had >both filled in our addresses quite correctly. > Hi Carole, > Princess, as well as most other cruise lines, take the home city > information from the reservation that your travel agent makes. They > do NOT use the form that you send in or fill out. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Response:
It may be redesigned but it’s buggy. My roomate and I are from different cities. We’ll be on Royal Septembeer 10th. We filled ouut all our information online and bought some shore excursions. I see that they have our home cities as chicago. Now I was born in Chicago but I haven’t lived there since I was a teen. My friend still does. The site didn’t allow us to change anything and said that our travel agent had to do that. So I e-mailed her and sure enough they changed my home city to Miami – and my friend’s city also somehow changed to Miami. So I e-mailed my TA yet again and told her and she fixed it. They clearly don’t read the information since we had both filled in our addresses quite correctly. We had our part of it done well before the 40 day limit that allows you not to fill anything out. However, by the time we straightened out Princess’ mistakes that deadline had passed. It will be interesting to see if we will have to fill everything out yet again when we receive our cruise docs. Carole
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Everyone, > I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of > interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are > archived on my web site. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com > Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase > Personal Choice Cruising > Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever > Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online > SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 > Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers > visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions > matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation > experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, > debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" > opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea > nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ > emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has > de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of > personalization options. The new web site can be found at > www.princess.com. > "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a > vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, > which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ > vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler > navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this > theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of > the Princess experience." > Voice Your Choice > Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently > on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and > leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that > shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier > respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a > better understanding of what their customers want in order to further > tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and > onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding > to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be > reflected in our online poll," said Putman. > As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, > the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four > weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely > on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the > scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What > type of exercise do you do most often? > The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, > has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey > findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want > to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of > Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a > powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided > to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus > poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of > respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to > my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 > percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do > something on vacation." > Wed Cam > Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which > provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each > Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In > conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the > Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at > home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their > loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live > cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 > seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast > from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the > Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to > Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the > option prior to their ceremony. > Site Redesign > The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements > reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience > reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features > targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where > users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, > time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps > with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries > and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to > pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. > In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so > users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, > the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ > convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who > has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. > Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor > their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, > entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting > its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal > Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer > both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of > restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and > with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature > that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, > special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; > FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in > advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, > enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the > assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding > which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when > pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. > About Princess Cruises > Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America > cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc > (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries > calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five > ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. > About kpe > Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and > entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and > technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and > creative services, website development, original content creation and > interactive game development.
Response:
Hi Everyone, I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are archived on my web site. Best regards, Ray LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 http://www.lighthousetravel.com Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase Personal Choice Cruising Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of personalization options. The new web site can be found at www.princess.com. "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of the Princess experience." Voice Your Choice Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a better understanding of what their customers want in order to further tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be reflected in our online poll," said Putman. As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What type of exercise do you do most often? The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do something on vacation." Wed Cam Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the option prior to their ceremony. Site Redesign The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. About Princess Cruises Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. About kpe Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and creative services, website development, original content creation and interactive game development.
Response:
It may be redesigned but it’s buggy. My roomate and I are from different cities. We’ll be on Royal Septembeer 10th. We filled ouut all our information online and bought some shore excursions. I see that they have our home cities as chicago. Now I was born in Chicago but I haven’t lived there since I was a teen. My friend still does. The site didn’t allow us to change anything and said that our travel agent had to do that. So I e-mailed her and sure enough they changed my home city to Miami – and my friend’s city also somehow changed to Miami. So I e-mailed my TA yet again and told her and she fixed it. They clearly don’t read the information since we had both filled in our addresses quite correctly. We had our part of it done well before the 40 day limit that allows you not to fill anything out. However, by the time we straightened out Princess’ mistakes that deadline had passed. It will be interesting to see if we will have to fill everything out yet again when we receive our cruise docs. Carole
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Everyone, > I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of > interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are > archived on my web site. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com > Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase > Personal Choice Cruising > Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever > Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online > SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 > Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers > visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions > matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation > experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, > debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" > opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea > nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ > emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has > de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of > personalization options. The new web site can be found at > www.princess.com. > "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a > vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, > which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ > vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler > navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this > theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of > the Princess experience." > Voice Your Choice > Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently > on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and > leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that > shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier > respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a > better understanding of what their customers want in order to further > tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and > onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding > to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be > reflected in our online poll," said Putman. > As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, > the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four > weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely > on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the > scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What > type of exercise do you do most often? > The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, > has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey > findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want > to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of > Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a > powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided > to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus > poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of > respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to > my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 > percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do > something on vacation." > Wed Cam > Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which > provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each > Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In > conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the > Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at > home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their > loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live > cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 > seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast > from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the > Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to > Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the > option prior to their ceremony. > Site Redesign > The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements > reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience > reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features > targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where > users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, > time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps > with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries > and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to > pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. > In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so > users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, > the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ > convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who > has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. > Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor > their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, > entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting > its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal > Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer > both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of > restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and > with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature > that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, > special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; > FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in > advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, > enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the > assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding > which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when > pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. > About Princess Cruises > Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America > cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc > (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries > calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five > ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. > About kpe > Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and > entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and > technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and > creative services, website development, original content creation and > interactive game development.
Response:
>They clearly don’t read the information since we had >both filled in our addresses quite correctly.
Hi Carole, Princess, as well as most other cruise lines, take the home city information from the reservation that your travel agent makes. They do NOT use the form that you send in or fill out. Best regards, Ray LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Response:
Oh. Carole
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->They clearly don’t read the information since we had >both filled in our addresses quite correctly. > Hi Carole, > Princess, as well as most other cruise lines, take the home city > information from the reservation that your travel agent makes. They > do NOT use the form that you send in or fill out. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com
Response:
It’s funny, when you are on their site they are pinging your IP address for some reason. My firewall detected that last week. It was something that never happened before the redesign.
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi Everyone, > I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of > interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are > archived on my web site. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com > Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase > Personal Choice Cruising > Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever > Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online > SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 > Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers > visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions > matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation > experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, > debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" > opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea > nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ > emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has > de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of > personalization options. The new web site can be found at > www.princess.com. > "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a > vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, > which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ > vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler > navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this > theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of > the Princess experience." > Voice Your Choice > Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently > on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and > leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that > shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier > respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a > better understanding of what their customers want in order to further > tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and > onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding > to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be > reflected in our online poll," said Putman. > As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, > the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four > weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely > on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the > scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What > type of exercise do you do most often? > The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, > has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey > findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want > to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of > Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a > powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided > to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus > poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of > respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to > my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 > percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do > something on vacation." > Wed Cam > Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which > provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each > Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In > conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the > Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at > home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their > loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live > cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 > seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast > from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the > Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to > Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the > option prior to their ceremony. > Site Redesign > The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements > reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience > reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features > targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where > users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, > time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps > with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries > and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to > pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. > In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so > users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, > the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ > convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who > has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. > Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor > their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, > entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting > its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal > Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer > both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of > restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and > with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature > that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, > special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; > FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in > advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, > enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the > assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding > which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when > pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. > About Princess Cruises > Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America > cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc > (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries > calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five > ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. > About kpe > Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and > entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and > technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and > creative services, website development, original content creation and > interactive game development.
Response:
Right you are Mike! I keep getting IE messages that they are trying to "cookie" me. Guess we will see in a few weeks tho I kept saying NO to the requests. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > It’s funny, when you are on their site they are pinging your IP address for > some reason. My firewall detected that last week. It was something that > never happened before the redesign. > Hi Everyone, > I received this press release from Princess and thought it may be of > interest. If you have missed any of my news’ postings, they are > archived on my web site. > Best regards, > Ray > LIGHTHOUSE TRAVEL > 800-719-9917 or 805-566-3905 > http://www.lighthousetravel.com > Redesigned Princess Web Site Uses Latest Technology To Showcase > Personal Choice Cruising > Weekly “Voice Your Choice” Opinion Poll, Images From First-Ever > Sea-Going Wedding Cam Debut, Giving Travelers A Choice Online > SANTA CLARA, CA Aug 07, 2001 > Using cutting edge technology, Princess Cruises will show travelers > visiting its completely redesigned web site that their opinions > matter, and that the cruise line is interested in providing a vacation > experience tailored to their individual preferences. The new web site, > debuting today, launches a weekly, interactive "Voice Your Choice" > opinion poll and also features live wedding images from at-sea > nuptials aboard Princess ships. It was designed to reflect Princess’ > emphasis on its Personal Choice Cruising (SM) program, which has > de-regimented the onboard experience by providing a variety of > personalization options. The new web site can be found at > www.princess.com. > "We’re looking to our customers to tell us what they want in a > vacation experience. That was the genesis of Personal Choice Cruising, > which we introduced earlier this year," said Todd Putman, Princess’ > vice president of marketing. "Our new site, with its simpler > navigation, features and opinion poll was re-designed to continue this > theme and punctuate that our passengers’ desires are at the heart of > the Princess experience." > Voice Your Choice > Princess’ "Voice Your Choice" weekly online poll, featured prominently > on the site’s home page, will gauge consumers’ views on travel and > leisure topics. The poll includes an instant tabulation feature that > shows the participant how his or her views measure against earlier > respondents. This engaging site feature will enable Princess to gain a > better understanding of what their customers want in order to further > tailor some of its offerings, such as menu items, shore excursions and > onboard amenities. "Personal Choice Cruising is all about responding > to passengers’ hopes, dreams, whims and desires, and this will be > reflected in our online poll," said Putman. > As participants enter their answers to the "Voice Your Choice" poll, > the results will be posted immediately and then archived for four > weeks. Sample questions include: Whose recommendation do you most rely > on when considering vacation options? If you could go behind the > scenes on a cruise ship, what area would you choose to visit? What > type of exercise do you do most often? > The online poll, which began as a real world Omnibus travel survey, > has become a marquis feature of the newly designed site. "Survey > findings showed that consumers seek personalized experiences and want > to be treated as individuals, which supports the principles of > Personal Choice Cruising. We found that ‘Voice Your Choice’ was a > powerful resource to get a pulse on what consumers want, so we decided > to take it online and make it weekly," said Putman. An earlier Omnibus > poll revealed that seventy six percent (three-out-of-four) of > respondents prefer a vacation "completely tailored and customized to > my needs and desires." And, that the majority of respondents (63 > percent) said "they felt annoyed when told exactly how and when to do > something on vacation." > Wed Cam > Based on the popularity of Princess’ innovative bridge cams, which > provide site users with dramatic worldwide views captured from each > Princess ship, the new web site debuts a similar "wed cam." In > conjunction with Princess’ exclusive wedding program that enables the > Princess captains to perform marriages at sea, family and friends at > home will now be able to "virtually" attend the nuptials of their > loved ones, online. Weddings take place during sea days, and the live > cyber images from the ship’s wedding chapel are updated every 10 > seconds during the ceremony. Weddings are currently being broadcast > from the line’s new Golden Princess, which is sailing the > Mediterranean this summer, and this feature will soon be added to > Grand Princess. The camera will be used only when a couple chooses the > option prior to their ceremony. > Site Redesign > The new web site features a clean, fresh navigation and elements > reflective of a passenger’s ability to discover a vacation experience > reflecting their unique personal desires. The site offers new features > targeted to meeting consumer needs including "Plan Your Voyage" where > users can find the best Princess cruise for them by destination, ship, > time of year or special interest, as well as view illustrated maps > with interactive rollovers so they can learn more about itineraries > and ports; and "Cruise Personalizer" which enables passengers to > pre-book shore excursions and customize other aspects of their cruise. > In addition, the site debuts a search engine powered by AskJeeves so > users can easily find what they want on the site. For travel agents, > the site’s Travel Agent Center features a link to Princess’ > convenient, new online ad planner. The site was produced by (kpe), who > has been Princess’ interactive agency of record since 1998. > Personal Choice Cruising Choice Cruising enables passengers to tailor > their cruise experience with a wide array of customizable dining, > entertainment and amenity options. Key examples of Princess putting > its passengers in control of designing their own vacation are Personal > Choice Dining (SM), the only dining program in the industry to offer > both the traditional fixed seating along with the option of > restaurant-style seating allowing passengers to dine when, where, and > with whom they want; Cruise Personalizer (SM), a unique online feature > that gives passengers the opportunity to book their shore excursions, > special occasions and dietary requirements in advance of the cruise; > FlightChoice (SM), which provides air schedule details 60 days in > advance of sailing, more than a month sooner than industry norm, > enabling passengers to choose a customized air schedule if the > assigned flights don’t meet their needs; and Your Choice Boarding > which gives passengers a fast, new Express Check-In option when > pre-cruise documentation is returned early to Princess. > About Princess Cruises > Princess Cruises, one of the best-known names in North America > cruising, is a global cruise and tour company. Part of P&O Cruises plc > (NYSE: POC), it operates ten ships on 150 different itineraries > calling at nearly 260 ports around the globe. By 2004 another five > ships will be added to its worldwide fleet. > About kpe > Founded in 1996, kpe is the leading digital partner to media and > entertainment companies. (kpe) offers clients strategic planning and > technology-driven marketing solutions including integrated design and > creative services, website development, original content creation and > interactive game development.
Response:
Question:
> 2. the disposable cameras were a complete waste of time!! We had 8 of them > scattered around on tables. 2 of the cameras didn’t even get used at all. > The ones that did get used… let’s just say that someone should be > monitoring their children more closely! We honestly PAID to develop 6 rolls > of film of the ceiling, floor, kids hands, foreheads, etc.
Perhaps attach a quick note asking people to please take photos of everyone at the table during the night–just putting a camera out assumes people know what you want done with it. Adding a note telling folks not to let the kids use them may insult guests with photographically-inclined, well-behaved children. Maybe it would help to have fewer cameras–1 for every 2 tables or so–this will cut down the # of cameras to develop, and help people resist the urge to "finish up the roll" with junk. FSIL did this at her wedding–the cameras had a note attached asking folks to take photos of the table, then pass to table X, and leave to be developed. They didn’t have many kids at the reception, but got a good number of good photos.
Response:
Diane, A pre-wedding party is something we developed. My FMIL wanted to have a reception in fiance’s hometown after the wedding and reception since they are in different states and many of his relatives are not able to travel to the wedding so she wanted them to be included in the celebration by having a 2nd reception in their hometown. However, we are moving 3,000 directly after the wedding and do not have the time for that 2nd reception. So, instead of foregoing it, we decided to have it prior to the wedding. Technically it wasn’t a reception since they weren’t receiving any newly married couple, but it was loads of fun. =o) — Kim < June 30th 2001 >
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Kim, > You don’t have to have those disposable cameras at your reception. Most > likely, lots of folks will show up with cameras anyway, so you’ll probably > wind up with a number of your guests giving you little envelopes of their > best shots – for a few weeks or even months afterwards! I had a small > wedding and got quite a number of these. > What is a pre-wedding party, anyway? > Diane I. > Life is good. > My email account is at nyc.rr.com addressed to dti > 2. the disposable cameras were a complete waste of time!! We had 8 of > them > scattered around on tables. 2 of the cameras didn’t even get used at all.
Response:
Kim, You don’t have to have those disposable cameras at your reception. Most likely, lots of folks will show up with cameras anyway, so you’ll probably wind up with a number of your guests giving you little envelopes of their best shots – for a few weeks or even months afterwards! I had a small wedding and got quite a number of these. What is a pre-wedding party, anyway? Diane I. Life is good. My email account is at nyc.rr.com addressed to dti
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> 2. the disposable cameras were a complete waste of time!! We had 8 of them > scattered around on tables. 2 of the cameras didn’t even get used at all.
Response:
> Are you the couple-to-be who was being feted pre-wedding? Like a "second > reception," only "pre?"
yes, that was us. we have coined the term "preception" =o) > Uh, you opened gifts at this "reception?" Not generally a very good plan. > There’s too much opportunity for lost cards and all sorts of other problems > (not limited to the obvious: comparing of gifts and embarrassment by your > guests). Other b-2-b, please don’t!
I guess I should have stated that more clearly. We didn’t open the gifts at the reception. We opened them the following morning at home with only our parents as spectators. Many relatives asked if they could come over to watch the unwrapping and I politely declined as, like you said, I did not want people comparing gifts. > This will undoubtedly happen at your reception as well. Everyone wants top > dance with the HC and give them good wishes. Did you "do the tables" at the > pre-wedding? Are you planning to "do the tables" at the reception? You have > an OBLIGATION to greet your guests.
We sort of did a mix. We stood near the door for awhile and greeted people as they came in. Then we decided to leave that and do the tables to talk to people. At the wedding, we are planning to do a recieving line. We both hate them, but I think it will be easier that way.
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> We still have the 2 cameras that didn’t get touched and we had wanted to use > the disposables at the reception (in addition to the paid photographer) but > we’re not sure if we should now. Would it be really innapropriate to attach > notes to the cameras stating they are for adults only? Fortunately, the > kids that took the first batch of photos will not be at the wedding…
Just skip the disposables — if you want additional candids, round up the relatives and close friends who *love* taking photos (we all have a few of these) and ask them to snap as they please. This weekend we took two sets of indoor architectural photos, one with my husband’s ordinary 35mm camera, and one with a disposable that we’d intended to use on a trip. I carried around the same halogen spotlight for both sets of photos, and they were developed at the same time. The ones taken with a regular camera came out great; the ones taken with the disposable not so great. Now, we are not professional photographers, but neither are your guests! In general, my experience with disposables — and I use them a lot because I can’t be trusted with a regular camera — is that the results are just not very dependable, even when the people using them are behaving themselves. This is especially true with the flash ones for indoors. – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> 3. Do not rush when opening your gifts. I wouldn’t say we rushed, but I > missed out something I had wanted to do. I had wanted to keep a scrap of > the wrapping paper and make a scrapbook with all the cards and paper. Well, > I kept scraps of the wrapping paper, but I forgot to jot down which paper > came from which person… so now I just have paper scraps at random. Not a > huge deal, but something I had planned on doing and now can’t. > 4. FH and I only got the chance to dance to one slow song the entire night. > This was not a big deal since we’re not huge dancers to begin with, but I > would have liked to dance with him more. We were occupied talking with > various guests and then when we did get on the dance floor, his young (8, 6, > and 4) year old cousins were yanking our arms and wanting us to dance > together with them. It was fun though. > 5. Prepare the food in proportion to the # of guests. FMIL apparently > cannot do this very well. There was so much food leftover!! We ended up > inviting everyone back to the hall the following afternoon for lunch to try > to eat some of it up. After that, we had to divide everything up and were > giving it away. There was an entire ham that never even got cut at the > party! So good estimation is always good in saving money and food. > — > Kim > < June 30th 2001 >
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Reply interspersed:
> FH and I just arrived back home from a week in his hometown. We had our > pre-wedding party last Saturday night
Are you the couple-to-be who was being feted pre-wedding? Like a "second reception," only "pre?" > That was actually quite nice and made the entire evening quite relaxing. I > just had a few observations that I wanted to pass along to other couples in > terms of reception planning. > 1. we brought along a bunch of CDs that we really enjoy and had a cousing > act as DJ for the event. However, we forgot to take into consideration that > the majority of the guests were over the age of 40
This seems to be a somewhat common theme among reception planners. It may be "your day" (generic "you," of course), but your guests really should come first in planning an event of this sort. . As it turned out, many guests had CDs in their > vehicles and were more than willing to help us out in providing a wider > variety of music.
Sounds like you fixed the problem quite nicely! > FH still refused to let them play country music though. > =o)
Shame on FH (though, were it "my party," I’d have done the same <wink>)! > 2. the disposable cameras were a complete waste of time!! We had 8 of them > scattered around on tables. 2 of the cameras didn’t even get used at all. > The ones that did get used… let’s just say that someone should be > monitoring their children more closely!
This also seems to be a common theme! Kids will be kids and parents (especially when they are among folks they haven’t seen in a while) may let their little ones "run amok." (after all, "it’s family.") <sigh> . > We still have the 2 cameras that didn’t get touched and we had wanted to use > the disposables at the reception (in addition to the paid photographer) but > we’re not sure if we should now. Would it be really innapropriate to attach > notes to the cameras stating they are for adults only?
Yes, it would be HIGLY inappropriate. You have to assume that your adult guests are responsible adults. If you are concerned about the quality of the shots, get a couple of folks you know and trust to take the candids for you. Don’t leave it to chance! > 3. Do not rush when opening your gifts.
Uh, you opened gifts at this "reception?" Not generally a very good plan. There’s too much opportunity for lost cards and all sorts of other problems (not limited to the obvious: comparing of gifts and embarrassment by your guests). Other b-2-b, please don’t! > I wouldn’t say we rushed, but I > missed out something I had wanted to do. I had wanted to keep a scrap of > the wrapping paper and make a scrapbook with all the cards and paper.
I hate to be a "ron" on this one, but everyone I know is doing major clean out of that sort of stuff these days. What the heck are you hoping to accomplish by saing it? Just curious. And if you’re serious about wanting to keep it, use it as a colage behind (say) some photos, the invitation, etc. in a scrapbook. The paper is still there even if you don’t remember exactly ~whose~ gift it was wrapped around. . > 4. FH and I only got the chance to dance to one slow song the entire
night. This will undoubtedly happen at your reception as well. Everyone wants top dance with the HC and give them good wishes. Did you "do the tables" at the pre-wedding? Are you planning to "do the tables" at the reception? You have an OBLIGATION to greet your guests. You’ll have the rest of your lives to dance together. > This was not a big deal since we’re not huge dancers to begin with, but I > would have liked to dance with him more. We were occupied talking with > various guests and then when we did get on the dance floor, his young (8, 6, > and 4) year old cousins were yanking our arms and wanting us to dance > together with them. It was fun though.
Kids! See above note on cameras! > 5. Prepare the food in proportion to the # of guests. FMIL apparently > cannot do this very well.
Whoa! Hold it! STOP! The hostess has a responsibility to see that there is ENOUGH. I can’t imagine anything worse than a party without enough food! > There was so much food leftover!! We ended up > inviting everyone back to the hall the following afternoon for lunch to try > to eat some of it up. After that, we had to divide everything up and were > giving it away. There was an entire ham that never even got cut at the > party! So good estimation is always good in saving money and food. > — > Kim > < June 30th 2001 >
Kim, sounds as though it was a great weekend. Now on to the wedding! Ann
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FH and I just arrived back home from a week in his hometown. We had our pre-wedding party last Saturday night and it was a big hit. There were probably close to 200 guests there and it appeared as though everyone had a great time. FH’s parents and other relatives planned the entire event and we basically just showed up and had nothing to do with any of the planning. That was actually quite nice and made the entire evening quite relaxing. I just had a few observations that I wanted to pass along to other couples in terms of reception planning. 1. we brought along a bunch of CDs that we really enjoy and had a cousing act as DJ for the event. However, we forgot to take into consideration that the majority of the guests were over the age of 40 and did not necessarily enjoy the same type of music that we do. This was a faux pas on our part as we didn’t really know who was on the guest list and who would actually be at the event until we arrived. As it turned out, many guests had CDs in their vehicles and were more than willing to help us out in providing a wider variety of music. FH still refused to let them play country music though. =o) 2. the disposable cameras were a complete waste of time!! We had 8 of them scattered around on tables. 2 of the cameras didn’t even get used at all. The ones that did get used… let’s just say that someone should be monitoring their children more closely! We honestly PAID to develop 6 rolls of film of the ceiling, floor, kids hands, foreheads, etc. There were a handful of pictures that were actually decent, unfortunately, 90% of those were of these same kids… believe it or not, there was not a single picture of FH or I on any of the film! So, the cameras were really disappointing. We still have the 2 cameras that didn’t get touched and we had wanted to use the disposables at the reception (in addition to the paid photographer) but we’re not sure if we should now. Would it be really innapropriate to attach notes to the cameras stating they are for adults only? Fortunately, the kids that took the first batch of photos will not be at the wedding… 3. Do not rush when opening your gifts. I wouldn’t say we rushed, but I missed out something I had wanted to do. I had wanted to keep a scrap of the wrapping paper and make a scrapbook with all the cards and paper. Well, I kept scraps of the wrapping paper, but I forgot to jot down which paper came from which person… so now I just have paper scraps at random. Not a huge deal, but something I had planned on doing and now can’t. 4. FH and I only got the chance to dance to one slow song the entire night. This was not a big deal since we’re not huge dancers to begin with, but I would have liked to dance with him more. We were occupied talking with various guests and then when we did get on the dance floor, his young (8, 6, and 4) year old cousins were yanking our arms and wanting us to dance together with them. It was fun though. 5. Prepare the food in proportion to the # of guests. FMIL apparently cannot do this very well. There was so much food leftover!! We ended up inviting everyone back to the hall the following afternoon for lunch to try to eat some of it up. After that, we had to divide everything up and were giving it away. There was an entire ham that never even got cut at the party! So good estimation is always good in saving money and food. — Kim < June 30th 2001 >
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Question:
>Spam.com, the worlds largest wedding spamming company, invites >all experienced spammers
To join their lousy little spam club. Ron Ng Knows!
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PartyPop.com, the worlds largest wedding and party planning company, invites all experienced professional wedding planners, coordinaors, and vendors to become part of the worlds largest community of party vendors and event entertainment by registering FOR FREE on our NATIONAL WEBSITE. http://www.partypop.com/registerv.cfm
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Question:
I own a catering hall and veil business and I’ve seen them all when it comes to consultant’s. Generally consultant’s make 10% of the total amount of your wedding bill (including attire, invitations, everything). Although many consultants are in the 5%-7% range. Is this amount worth it? Well that depends on you. Are you the type of person that doens’t want to drive to 15 catering halls, listen to 40 tapes of bands, etc? Most (good) consultants will get a feel for your style and be able to narrow down the choices and the costs, thereby saving you lots of time and stress. As far as kickbacks go, I don’t think you need to worry about that. When a hairdresser for example, send me a client that buys one of my headpieces, i send her a check as a courtesy for the referral. I don’t think that any consultant is going to refer you to any vendor just for the kickback. Their reputation and your happiness are more valuable than the kickback. If you have any questions please give me a holler! Jesse — Hey! Still need a veil? 70% Off Veils! Send or fax us a photo of a veil and CopyCat Veils will make an exact replica for up to 70% off what you’d pay in any bridal boutique! 440-338-5610 – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Hi everyone – > I’m starting to do some initial research… > Does anyone know the basic rates/methods that Wedding Consultants/Event > Planners charge? Is it more commonly a percentage of the total cost of > the wedding, or is it by the hour? And how common are "kickbacks" and > should this make me wary? > Thanks in advance for your help!
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>I own a catering hall and veil business
And you are SPAMMING this newsgroup. Ron Ng Knows!
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I’d ask specifically when you interview consultants if they pay > "finders fees" or other compensation to the vendors they recommend.
That’s a good idea. I’d > also make sure that you personally interview any vendors recommended > just for your own peace of mind. While a coordinator can be a great > help in *finding* vendors to chose from, the final selection should > always be yours.
Absolutely. I don’t think I am the type to go into things blindly…or maybe I’m just incredibly anal… 
> What, exactly, are you looking for an event planner to do for you?
I’m still debating. I would like to be involved (heavilly) in the planning process. Only problem is that I work crazy long hours and therefore wouldn’t be available. My fiancee is off Mondays (but works Saturdays). Thus, we have only one day off together — Sunday, not exactly business hours. In general, I need some help getting me started on the right foot and acting as a sounding board. More specific, things I would like help with are: 1) Finding a place. ASAP. 
I have an idea of what I want in my head (an outdoor wedding, tent, etc., somewhat small but fun & classy), but don’t know about feasibility or contingency plans (e.g. thunderstorm). My mom is willing to help & scout out places but she really doesn’t like to drive far (she’s a VERY skittish driver), which leaves establishments about 10 miles from my hometown! 2) Touching base every so often (my fiancee and i are figuring on a long engagement) 3) Helping out about the week or so leading up to the event and the day of so my family members aren’t running around wondering where the food is, etc. I want to make all of this go as smoothly as possible, is all…
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> Does anyone know the basic rates/methods that Wedding Consultants/Event > Planners charge? Is it more commonly a percentage of the total cost of > the wedding, or is it by the hour? And how common are "kickbacks" and > should this make me wary?
There are three basic ways that a consultant can charge: by a percentage of the total budget, by an hourly rate, or by a flat rate per wedding. It’s going to vary from area to area and from consultant to consultant, depending on what you want them to do and how much of the planning you want to give over to them. I’m inclined to say that you should pick a consultant who will charge you a flat rate or an hourly rate, but if you agree on a budget ahead of time, then really one who charges by percentage is no different than one who charges by flat rate. As far as kickbacks – they are both more and less common than people think. *grin* A lot of consultants ask for kickbacks for referrals, but there are also a lot who don’t – who work via a "preferred vendors" list. I’d ask specifically when you interview consultants if they pay "finders fees" or other compensation to the vendors they recommend. I’d also make sure that you personally interview any vendors recommended just for your own peace of mind. While a coordinator can be a great help in *finding* vendors to chose from, the final selection should always be yours. Along the same lines, another question to ask is how they will respond if you hire a vendor who is not part of their preferred vendors list. If there are fees involved between the vendor and the consultant, you want to make sure that isn’t going to cause you problems or increase your rates if you go outside the consultants "network". What, exactly, are you looking for an event planner to do for you? Karen
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Hi everyone – I’m starting to do some initial research… Does anyone know the basic rates/methods that Wedding Consultants/Event Planners charge? Is it more commonly a percentage of the total cost of the wedding, or is it by the hour? And how common are "kickbacks" and should this make me wary? Thanks in advance for your help!
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Question:
(A really good, thoughtful reply to the discussion of whether or not "A" and "B" lists can/should be used.) Notwithstanding your logical reasonings, I must point out that Miss Manners is the first to say that oft times there is no logic to etiquette. Some rules are universal and some rules are event specific. It’s years of custom, tradition, and expected civil behavior that gives us this code that seemingly needs a ruling from the Supreme Court on occasion. We talked about Miss Manners and her permission, if you will, and methods for inviting guests late. We talked about Letitia Baldrige’s use of "B" lists. You’re right. Neither example was pointed directly to weddings because my interpretation is that guests may be invited late to an event, the title of that event not being relevant, as long as the host is discrete about there being a "B" list. To be wedding specific however, I will quote the section from Emily Post’s Weddings, third edition, pages 82-83. "Ask everyone involved in choosing the guest list for the names and addresses of "wait list" guests; then you and your partner can prioritize them. Plan for enough time for responses from the master-list guests to be received – no less than four weeks – to invite guests who are on the "B," or standby list. Making this choice early in your planning process makes sending the second group of invitations out quickly much easier. Create a list separate from the master guest list, and once guests from the standby group accepts, incorporate the name into the master list in your planner. Some couples are hesitant to have standby lists, but these lists do provide a practical solution for controlling numbers – and budget. If you and your intended (and parents) apply discretion, making sure that guest do not even know you have "A" and "B" lists, feelings won’t be hurt, and guests won’t feel slighted if those later invitations are mailed promptly, four weeks before the wedding." It is accepted practice to have "A" and "B" lists and as long as they are used judiciously, there is no reason not to employ them when circumstances warrant. Hope this helps, Noe
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> >Noe! That reference is about dinner party invitations and her reply was exceptionally >specific to that particular context. There is no mention of "A" and "B" lists or last minute >invitations in the wedding sections at all. > There is no difference. A guest list is a guest list. All guests should be > treated the same no matter what the occasion.
Then, if this is true, the same solution Miss Manners advocates for late invitations to dinner parties should be applied to weddings as well. If you remember, the advice of Miss Manners you used in "Excruciating Guide" to justify "B" lists was regarding a dinner party. Miss Manners strongly advised the host to promptly invite the late invitee to another dinner party within the month where they have the choice of dates "for a dinner that the host plans to build around him or her". Now, if guests are guests are guests and guests lists are guests lists no matter what the situation, then it would be the obligation of the host to promptly invite all last minute wedding guest invitees to a wedding reception of the date of their choice where they are the "A" list invitees. I do think you are missing the context of Miss Manners’ advice on last minute dinner guests and poorly extrapolating it to wedding guest lists. That the dinner party host has an obligation to invite the late invitee to another dinner party very promptly with the intent of building the guest list around the previous late invitees, is an indication that doing so is awkward for the guest and all efforts made to make them feel comfortable are employed. >But that context has nothing to do with "A" and "B" lists or an endorsement of "B" lists. >Letitia is specifically dealing with the error of presuming higher status and therefore higher >billing on the guest list. > Correct. The error belongs to the guest, not the host. There is nothing wrong > with having a hierarchy in the guest list structure. What is wrong is for guests > to waste their time trying to figure out where they stand on such list.
But we are not talking about status on *a* list but rather inclusion on *which* list. It’s an either/or question, not one of "how high do I rank in the guest list". There is no substantiation for "b" lists, only a rebuke to guests to not try to ascertain their position on a guest list for a dinner party in which there may be guests of honor. >> And again, both Miss Manners and Ms. Baldrige say there’s nothing wrong with >> inviting last minute fill-in guests.
For dinner parties. There is no mention of "fill-in" guests for wedding receptions. >> Fill-in guests are not second-class guests; >> they are just not as near to the heart as those who receive the invitation >> earlier. >Which can be a surprising and disappointing revelation to those who thought the relationship >was more reciprocal. > Again, it’s incorrect for the guests to make assumptions.
I think it is a reasonable assumption that if one gives of oneself for another that there exists some sort of reciprocal relationship. That is human nature since non-reciprocal relationships are unhealthy and unnatural. Some brides are more intent on the "magical moment" of their wedding day hence the reason why we call them bridezillas. >> I think many people have become overly sensitive to *not* being "first in line", >> when receiving an invitation to such an honored event should be taken at face >> value (unless there is a pre-printed "respond by" date on the invitation which, >> of course, would be in very poor taste to send to a fill-in guest). >I don;t think many people give much consideration to where they rank in the affections of the >HC as in "number one friend", etc. But a last minute invitation is a strong message to the >recipiant that they are not within the circle of close, dear friends the HC wouldn’t dream of >not inviting. > Again, it’s incorrect for the guest to make assumptions as to the motives of > his/her host.
I believe it to be equally presumptuous for the host to presume that "dear friends" can drop all plans and attend a wedding an reception on short notice. Just as a last minute "fill-in" guest for a dinner party is doing the host a favor by rounding out the table numbers, so are last minute wedding guests whose gifts round out the gift table. >However, you are addressing the appropriate response by a invitee to an awkward invitation >whereas I am referring to whether it is appropriate to issue late invitations by the inviter. >Just because Miss Manners and Baldrige give advice on how to courteously deal with an awkward >invitation does not mean it is a validation of a last minute invitation that caused the >distress in the guest in the first place. > Both Miss Manners and Ms. Baldrige say it’s quite alright to issue a late > invitation.
Noe, you are not reading the context of that advice. It is in regard to dinner parties and the host is specifically mandated to resolve the tension of such last minute invitations by planning yet another dinner party on the date of the late invitee’s choosing and built around them as the guest of honor. To extrapolate this to wedding and reception hosting is erroneous because it is impractical for the host to extend yet another invitation to another reception where all the "B" list guests would all become the "A" list guests. > It’s up to the guest to handle it appropriately. Only if the guest > does not handle it appropriately does the situation become awkward.
Just because proper behavior is encouraged in the face of a potentially awkward situation does not mean that there was no offensive behavior which prompted the reaction.
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> >Receiving an invitation so close to >the wedding is a dead giveaway that the "B" list invitees has been tapped > <snip> > I’ve wondered about this too. At this point, we don’t have a B list but I have > a feeling we may end up having one. > How do you do this if it’s a big no-no to send out invites too early with the > plan that if you send out the A list early enough so that the B list can get > their invites at time where it is isn’t totally obvious they were an > after-thought?
You still have to potential problem of guests talking amongst themselves and discovering there was a significant disparity in the invitation arrival times. The solution is to create alist of people you truly desire to be at your wedding and reception, scale the budget and menu to accomodate that number of people and then let the chips fall where they may. Bluntly speaking, "B" lists smack of someone trying to maximize the giftgetting potential by inviting as many people as possible to "fill" the gaps left by non-attending "A" invitees.
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> >So, > >now we have room to invite some folks that otherwise we might not have > >been able to. Yes, I know, these are "B" listers, which I feel kind of > >bad about, but I’m not planning to let them know this. > >When I send them an invite, should I leave out the response card? The > >response cards say to reply by May 20th. > It is perfectly permissible to have a "B" list. The trick is not letting them > know that these people are on the "B" list. >WHAT? Are you sure Miss Manners would agree with that? I’ve never considered it >permissable to have a "B" list because invariably the guests do talk and do find out >that there was a disparity in the invitations. Receiving an invitation so close to >the wedding is a dead giveaway that the "B" list invitees has been tapped and the >invitation extended merely to cover the number of meals already contracted for.
Yes. Miss Manners gives her blessing to it in "Guide to Excruciatingly Correct Behavior" as does Letitia Baldrige in "The New Manners for the 90s." Miss Manners says to fess up about the person being a last minute invite. Ms. Baldrige doesn’t say that, but says a guest is to ignore what appears to be a "B" list invitation and accept it graciously as if on the "A" list. There are many circumstances which cause guests to go onto the "B" list. Space confinements is the one we see here most often. The happy couple wants to invite 100 people but the facility will hold only 75. As negative RSVPs come in, those on the "B" list are should be issued an invitation promptly. One need not wait until the late minute to collect *all* the negative RSVPs before going to the "B" list; if "B" listers are invited quickly, then they are usually none the wiser. Hope this helps, Noe
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>Receiving an invitation so close to >the wedding is a dead giveaway that the "B" list invitees has been tapped
<snip> I’ve wondered about this too. At this point, we don’t have a B list but I have a feeling we may end up having one. How do you do this if it’s a big no-no to send out invites too early with the plan that if you send out the A list early enough so that the B list can get their invites at time where it is isn’t totally obvious they were an after-thought? melissa to paul 09-24-00 a bubble-free, animal-release free, toss anything-free event http://www.bella-mag.com/
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> >So, >now we have room to invite some folks that otherwise we might not have >been able to. Yes, I know, these are "B" listers, which I feel kind of >bad about, but I’m not planning to let them know this. >When I send them an invite, should I leave out the response card? The >response cards say to reply by May 20th. > It is perfectly permissible to have a "B" list. The trick is not letting them > know that these people are on the "B" list.
WHAT? Are you sure Miss Manners would agree with that? I’ve never considered it permissable to have a "B" list because invariably the guests do talk and do find out that there was a disparity in the invitations. Receiving an invitation so close to the wedding is a dead giveaway that the "B" list invitees has been tapped and the invitation extended merely to cover the number of meals already contracted for.
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>So, >now we have room to invite some folks that otherwise we might not have >been able to. Yes, I know, these are "B" listers, which I feel kind of >bad about, but I’m not planning to let them know this. >When I send them an invite, should I leave out the response card? The >response cards say to reply by May 20th.
It is perfectly permissible to have a "B" list. The trick is not letting them know that these people are on the "B" list. Send the invitations without the Dreaded Response Card and it will be just fine. Hope this helps, Noe
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Forgive me if this has been brought up….it probably has….I just need to know the right way to do this. Our wedding is in 3 weeks. We have had several people respond that they will not be able to attend…..So, now we have room to invite some folks that otherwise we might not have been able to. Yes, I know, these are "B" listers, which I feel kind of bad about, but I’m not planning to let them know this. When I send them an invite, should I leave out the response card? The response cards say to reply by May 20th. This seems like it would make it obvious that they were last minute. I really wish I could have invited everyone I know right from the beginning but that just wasn’t possible. Yvette
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Yes, this comes up periodically, and opinions always differ. I see nothing wrong with having A- and B-list guests, as long as you’re discreet about it and don’t do anything to make the latter group feel like they’re "second choice." Personally, I almost never assume I’ll be invited to someone’s wedding (and the few exceptions are mostly immediate family members); people’s budgets, guest list sizes, and family sizes vary too much for me to accurately judge whether I’m "close enough" to invite. Consequently, if I receive an invitationl, I’m pleasantly surprised — and if I’m on the B-list, well, I figure they didn’t have to invite me at all. As far as how to invite B-list guests politely, I don’t think 3 weeks’ lead time is unreasonable for local guests, though I agree that you should omit the response card rather than send one with a reply date that’s already passed or is imminent. You could just mail or hand-deliver(*) the invitations without comment. If you do this, I’d suggest keeping to a bare minimum the number of people who know about the A- and B-lists; it’s one thing if a not-very-close friend suspects, based on the lateness of the invitation and her relationship with you, that she was a B-lister, but it’s another if word gets around and she hears it from someone else. Alternately, you can come clean in as tactful a manner as possible: "Groom and I both have such large families that we weren’t able to invite many of our friends at first, but we’d very much like for you to be there if you’re able." -HB – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->Forgive me if this has been brought up….it probably has….I just need >to know the right way to do this. Our wedding is in 3 weeks. We have >had several people respond that they will not be able to attend…..So, >now we have room to invite some folks that otherwise we might not have >been able to. Yes, I know, these are "B" listers, which I feel kind of >bad about, but I’m not planning to let them know this.
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Question:
Has anyone ever been on a boat for a wedding? How many people did they have? Where did everyone sit and where did everyone dance? I need help because my guest list has greatly increased. My FMIL is quite disappointed that she can only invite 35 people. I was going to sit everyone downstairs around the dance floor but the downstairs can only fit 65 people. But this boat has an upstairs which has plastic side panels just in case the weather gets bad. What should I do, sit people upstairs and downstairs and keep the dance floor open? or should I sit everyone downstairs and some how get everyone to come up for the dancing? If you have a minute please check out the boats website http://www.plymouthharborcruises.com. which will show you a picture of the boat and what I mean. Thanks for taking the time to answer my question. Sheena
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> How many people did they have? >Where did everyone sit and where did everyone dance? I need help because my >guest list has greatly increased. My FMIL is quite disappointed that she can >only invite 35 people. I was going to sit everyone downstairs around the >dance >floor but the downstairs can only fit 65 people. But this boat has an >upstairs >which has plastic side panels just in case the weather gets bad. What should >I >do, sit people upstairs and downstairs and keep the dance floor open? or >should I sit everyone downstairs and some how get everyone to come up for the >dancing?
Sheena, I photograph about 30 yacht weddings a year here in CA. You need to remember that on any boat you are faced with two distinct conditions: 1. Each area of the boat must serve more than one purpose. For example, wedding ceremonies here are always on the upper deck. Immeditely after the ceremony the chairs are stacked and tables are set up for the meal. While this is happening your guests are on the lower deck and your photographer, if he does what we do, will be shooting your "formals" on the upper deck where the ceremony occurred. It sounds chaotic but it really isn’t if the boat crew is efficient. 2. Each boat, no matter the size, can *fit* only so many guests comfortably. This issue is not really under the control of you or even your charter service as the Coast Guard designates the maximum passenger count for every vessel. I would highly suggest that you follow the suggestions of your event planner at the charter service. There is nothing less *fun* than being on an overstuffed boat. Boat weddings are FUN! If you are interested we have a number of sample yacht weddings on our web site under "recent weddings" that you can view. I looked at your boat and it is small to medium size for a wedding so, even more so, I would follow the suggestions of your planner. If I can answer any other questions please feel free to email me. Best regards, Rick Rosen Newport Beach, CA www.rickrosen.com
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Question:
> 100% of the "yeses" show up… <snip>
The percentages being discussed are relative to the total number of invites, not the number of "yes" responses. And the numbers are general rules-of-thumb based on the wide experience of the caterer or wedding planner. Any single wedding can (and quite likely will) vary from the average so there’s no way to make an accurate a priori prediction. In any event you shouldn’t commit to a headcount until AFTER you’ve received all your responses. Then your count should be quite accurate, but probably still not exact. — Michael Cohn Good Vibrations Music www.come.to/goodvibrations
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>>>Why bother to invite people from the B >>list if you didn’t want them there enough to put them on the A list? >I really don’t believe it is a matter >of who you want there as much as it how many you can afford to have >there.
In my case, it’s not a matter of how much I can afford to have there…it’s a matter of how intimate I want my party to be. When my parents had their 25th anniversary 6 years ago, they had a complete renewal of vows at the church and a full blown reception. They invited 500 people. And almost all of them attended! My folks didn’t have much time to spend with each guest that night. There were too many people to talk to! I remember hoping that none of their guests felt neglected. We’re having 150-200 guests. That’s a good number for Cam and myself to personally entertain at our reception. In fact, an even smaller number would be better. We have a B-List, but we probably won’t use it. Cheers, Nenette Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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> Caterers have told us that no matter what the response cards say, 70% of eligible guests > will come to the reception. We have invited over 350 people, 317 of whom are > eligible..that is, local, probably can come. But only about 2/3 rds have returned the > response cards, and we have a hunch that some have said "yes" to be "nice"! when they > really don’t plan on coming!!! Does qanyone have experience with the 70% rule? > Visit our website at http://home.att.net/~jzee
It will depend on your guests. Have you been to other weddings (eg family) where a large proportion of your guests attended? What was the turnout? Have you had gatherings on a smaller level with these people – do those that say they’re going to show up actually show up or do they regularly flake? How *close* are these 317 people to you – that is, are they close family and friends who will not miss it for the world? or are they friend of a friend that you met at a party and wanted to invite because they’re nice to have around? The former will likely stick to their word, the latter may not. I refuse to accept any rule of thumb, as I’ve known very different types of guests! And I saw the negative effects of expecting only 70% to show up. My brother’s wedding, caterer kept saying "70%" (or maybe it was 80), despite bro telling them there would be more. What happened? Not only did 100% of the "yeses" show up, a couple of "nos" changed their minds the day before the wedding and came (letting HC know at least one day in advance). Caterer still planned for 80%… grr…. Sister’s wedding they heard the same thing. In this case it was a little more accurate, altho, nearly 100% of the family "yeses" did come. The no- shows with the yes rsvp were mostly the HC’s friends who weren’t really clued into social graces. I think they ended up with about 80% attendance. — Cherise Share what you know. Learn what you don’t.
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>Why bother to invite people from the B >list if you didn’t want them there enough to put them on the A list?
Peggy, I really don’t believe it is a matter of who you want there as much as it how many you can afford to have there.
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> Newgroups: alt.wedding >Why bother to invite people from the B >list if you didn’t want them there enough to put them on the A list? > Peggy, I really don’t believe it is a matter > of who you want there as much as it how many you can afford to have > there.
Kicker- True. However, if I had had twice as many people that I really wanted to invite, I would have scaled back my reception costwise so that I could afford to invite all of them, rather than having a more expensive recption to which I could only invite half. For example, we really wanted to be able to afford to invite our friends from college, but we could not have afforded to invite them all to a formal, plated, four-course reception. So we opted instead for a cocktail reception, and can afford to invite everyone we wanted to. I understand that "B list" guests are usually more distant acquaintances, such as co-workers or something, but the principle still stands (for me). Peggy
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> Peggy, I really don’t believe it is a matter > of who you want there as much as it how many you can afford to have > there.
Exactly. When it comes to close friends and family, we’re scaling down as necessary. It wouldn’t be the same for us if we couldn’t invite certain people. These people are "A-list". They are invited if we have to do a cake and punch reception in a public park. Other people are in the category of "well, it would be nice, but we’d rather treat our A-list guests to a nice meal and a champagne toast". These "B-list" people are generally co-workers of our parents, people we don’t keep in touch with quite so much, etc. It won’t break our hearts if we can’t accommodate them, but it’s not like we don’t want them there. Jennifer (and Brian) July 15, 2000
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>>Why bother to invite people from the B >list if you didn’t want them there enough to put them on the A list? >Peggy, I really don’t believe it is a matter >of who you want there as much as it how many you can afford to have >there.
Most everyone can afford punch and cake for all their friends and family. If someone prefers a fancier dinner over inviting person X, that’s their business, but it’s not exactly correct to say that people "can’t afford more guests." If someone *really* wanted more guests, then they could have planned wedding that was less expensive per guest. It’s a matter of making choices. Kris
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> Most everyone can afford punch and cake for all their friends and > family. > If someone prefers a fancier dinner over inviting person X, that’s their > business, but it’s not exactly correct to say that people "can’t afford more > guests." If someone *really* wanted more guests, then they could have planned > wedding that was less expensive per guest. It’s a matter of making choices.
Well, there are decisions that we’re all making, and we’ve all got different priorities. You can choose between — Having a huge party with all your family and friends — Having your wedding in a romantic, meaningful, historical building where there’s a max capacity — Have your wedding on a religious holiday — Having your wedding in a different city or country so some people won’t be able to make it — Eloping — Having a huge, five-star elegant Adult Evening, which would cut out any kids and parents who choose to not leave their kids home, and it could easily cut down the guest list due to cost — Having your wedding during various times of year — Having your wedding at your own home, where the size, again, is restricted It’s not always just a money thing; if a location means a lot to you — the church your grandparents were married at, the theater you met at during a workshop, Queretaro, QTO Mexico — you’re easily making a decision that could restrict your list. You can easily have your list restricted by when you get married: Especially in a largely homogenous group, it’s hard to remember to check for various religious holidays, secular holidays (which can restrict travel plans!) various family important days (I wouldn’t want to get married on, say, the anniversary of my grandfather’s death), or for that matter, some seasons are blocked out: My cousin won’t get married in the summer in Las Vegas, and I won’t get married in the winter in Milwaukee. Even time of day can elminate some guests. Don’s friends could not physically make it to a sunrise service, and one of the coolest weddings I was ever at was under the Perseides shower at about 1 a.m., but most of the guests had already gone back to their tents. Don and I will probably have a huge huge get together, possibly a barbecue, probably in Autumn, with lots of activities planned for out of town guests and chances for the families and friends to get together and meet outside of just the celebration. We will then try to have a secondary reception that will go late into the evening with lots of live music from all our friends, and we’ll be careful to make sure that sober rides are available because of the probability of inebriation among some of our guests. Now, this will probably be seen as low-class and gauche because my first concern isn’t if our tablecloths don’t match our bridesmaids’ shoes don’t match the tissue paper wedding bell on the limo, but that’s not important to us. You’re exactly right, it is a matter of making choices.
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Caterers have told us that no matter what the response cards say, 70% of eligible guests will come to the reception. We have invited over 350 people, 317 of whom are eligible..that is, local, probably can come. But only about 2/3 rds have returned the response cards, and we have a hunch that some have said "yes" to be "nice"! when they really don’t plan on coming!!! Does qanyone have experience with the 70% rule? Visit our website at http://home.att.net/~jzee
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> …and we have a hunch that some have said "yes" to be "nice"! when they > really don’t plan on coming!!! Does qanyone have experience with the 70%
rule? Responding "yes" is not being "nice", it’s inconsiderate because you will possibly be paying for guests who don’t show. My rule-of-thumb is 75%, which is certainly in the ballpark with what your caterers are saying. If your experience is typical of other receptions you will have some "no-shows" who previously RSVP’ed "yes" and some guests who bring other uninvited "guests". Go figure! — Michael Cohn Good Vibrations Music www.come.to/goodvibrations
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Mother was a frustrated woman of 23 when it all began. She was a sick woman. Here is our story. I will not dwell on the beatings, or verbal abuse, but the sexual side, as well with a cousin that I found true love with.. Carolyn was a very sexual woman even if she did have a bit of a drinking problem. She had messed around at age fifeteen with J.S. the man who was to become my father very early. She got pregnant with me; Charles, and they married. He wasn’t realy the marrying kind, but he at least did the honorable thing. Later on before I was born they fought, and divorced a month before I was born. He had been a drinker, womanizer, and flirt with anything that looked cute. She used to call me a bastard. I don’t know if I was. Even at a young age I showed much intellegence, and promise, but daily heard such trash as, "You won’t amount to a hill of beans, ", or "You are just like that asshole dad of yours, not worth a thing. " This played high on my developing a very low self esteem, and feeling I was indeed worthless, and a pile of shit. Well for the first five years we lived with my grandparents. I slept in the same rom with my Aunt Pat who was but five years older than me. She was not shy, and was in various stages of dress, and undress in front of me. Until we moved we bathed together in what I felt was a very close loving family. I saw her grow up in stages, and she even begin to bloom a bit before we moved. The little dark strands of her pussy hair-curls came out above her labia slit, and fat puffy nipples made their show by age nine. Even then she was not shy, and we slept in as little as we could during the summer months. We would wash each other, and play in the water having fun, but I did not understand anyting about sex at that age. By age eight she had began to feel little twinges as she caled them in her pussy she called slitty. Soon she began focusing a lot of time washing my tiny penis. Soon Granny found out, and stopped our communal bathing. Pat was growing up nicely, and I loved to play with her slitty. Well after four, and a half years of various boyfriends, and screwing around mother met my soon to be step dad. George was a genius (was in that he is dead now), and was a top engineer for Wright Patt AFB, and NASA with aeronautical systems. He, and I didn’t get along from the start just for info. George soon began degrading me just like mother as he began to expect me to be just as smart as him, and he would say so. I was not his son so could not have his genius like him. Soon he, and mother began many a drinking party with their many Optimust parties, and other groups they belonged to. She used booze to cover her insecurities. Her breasts were beginning to sag a bit early even though she was fit. At a 38CC she was proud of them. She had gained about 20 pounds since they married a year, and a half earlier, and George began criticizing her to lose the weight,and tighten up. They began fighting a lot. Mother, and I bathed a lot, and she used to spend a lot of time just washing me all over, but nothing of a sexual nature that I could tell at that age. Who knows what sex is at five anyway. When I was five mother had met this George, and married him, then forced me to take his last name. Then to furthere hurt me they began depriving me to get to see, or know my real dad. George soon began to become valuable to the space program, and went back, and forth to Cape Canaveral, Florida before it became Kennedy Space Center. ny’s when he left mother got very lonely. For a few trips I was sent to Dayton to my Grandma’s, or my Aunt Helen’s. But once after she became pregnant with my soon to be sibling she kept me home. She was showing pretty good, and I could see her nipples getting bigger when we bathed. Well one week George left for a full three weeks. After four days mother was geting kinda buggy if you know what I mean. My room was next to theirs, and I heard nightly bed springs. When he left they were replaced with a less noisy set of springs. I didn’t know till later what that noise was. After the fifth day he was gone mother called me in to sleep with her. We took a bath which we hadn’t for a while, and enjoyed washing each other. This time mother asked me to concentrate on her breasts with my hands, and soap not a rag . I enjoyed the feel of them, and those big nipples that were turning dark. She saw me staring at them, and asked me if I wanted to touch them. "I have been washing them, "I answered surprised she even asked me. "Well I love them to be touched so play all you want dear, "she sighed as I did begin to play with her big breasts, and swelled nipples. "Let’s go dry in my bed, "she suggested again shocking me as she always dried me, and I got dressed in my own room as she did in hers. "You can dry my back. Then we will lie down, and you sleep with me tonight. I will rub your back, and you rub mine, "she explained as she finished drying my back. "Wow can I realy?"I cried back again shocked, and excited as she never wanted me in the first place. I was her bastard child that would never amount to anything according to her, and now she was suddenly showing me a love I had never felt before. Was I confused. She had taken out her anger on me for six years because my real Dad did not want to give up his football, or fireman’s job, and would not stop playing around. I took a lot of abuse from her, and to suddenly be loved like this was a real shock I did not know how to handle. "Come lie by me, "she begged as I stood next to her puzzled. "Ok, " I replied lying down next to her both of us naked. She had already gained about twenty pounds, and now with the baby added another ten, or more so she was a bit self conscious about herself the past couple years. . She had a pot belly that stuck out a bit, and her thighs had gotten fatter too. Being a child I did not understand these things. I lied next to her, and she took my head, and placed her left nipple into my mouth, and asked me to suck on it. I did, but did not get milk as she said I would. I tried, and enjoyed the feeling, and taste. She tasted so good, and kept saying things like, ’Oh this takes me back to when you were a baby. ‘ She never nursed me. I did not understand what she was talking about because this had been an arguement between my grandmother, and her of her failure to breast feed me, or be close to me. They had fought often over the way she mistreated me. Then to take me from my grandmother just to ignore me, and abuse me was realy awful to them. Well I kept sucking, and she began rubbing my back, and butte. I was loving this feeling as she was finaly loving me, and showing affection. After a while she switched nipples seeing I would get any milk there, but loving the attention I was giving them. She began feeling my tiny penis which wasn’t but about three inches then. It did not get stiff as she wanted, and she got frustrated as she kept playing with it. When I asked her she just said she wanted me to feel good. "I will suck you, and you suck me to make you feel good dear, "she whimpered, but I did not understand. "Ok if it makes me feel better it’s ok mommy, " I cried back not understanding what was happening to me. "It will darling, it will, "she tried to reassure me, but was failing badly. "Ok, "I answered. I lied back taking my mouth from her nipple. I had enjoyed it, but was confused by this sudden show of love she never gave before now. She took the small thing in her mouth, and sucked, licked, and played for what seemed forever, and after a while it got raw, and painful. I tried to stop her, but it never got any bigger. Frustrated she lied me between her legs, and tried to put it in her wet looking hole I had seen often when we bathed. I had never been permitted to touch it before. It was realy wet, and I thought she hadn’t dried herself very good. Not knowing this was arousing to her. Not able because of her weight to get me in she gave up, and just played with me, and sucked me. I went back to sucking her nipples, and she showed me how to play with her. Then she showed me how to suck her button, and make it feel good. It got big,and red. We were like that for a while when she suddenly began moaning a lot, and shaking. I was rubbing my fingers on her little bump, and putting a couple in her hole which excited me as it felt so wet, and funny, but good. It scared me, and I stopped, and ran to my room thinking I had hurt her. I heard more moans, and ran to see if she was hurt. She wasn’t, but she had a long, large funny looking thing that looked like a huge replica of my penis in her going in, and out. I just stood there in amazement, and saw something else beside her. She had drug out my step dad’s porno collection. It had all kinds of naked pictures of girls, women of all ages with men doing what mother tried to get me to do. After ten minutes her eyes closed, and she let out a long loud moan, and then stopped. I could see all kinds of juices coming out of her hole. I ran back to my room confused, but knew I wanted to see what she was enjoying. That was my first mixed emotional sexual encounter with my own mom. The next few times till little brother was born I enjoyed her nipples, breasts, and playing with her. She let me taste her hole, and told me it was her vagina not just a hole. She explained it all to me, and the summer of 55 I was learning all about girls. I knew exactly what to do, but was to small to do much about it. June of the second year this was going on I found a girl one year older than me that loved to play marbles as much as I did. As we played I began seeing her for the first real time. I could see down her dress top, but she had tiny light pink nipples, not big like mother’s, or medium like Aunt Paula’s. I also got a couple views of her panties. White cotton thick ones, but I could se the curve of her lips, and the
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I was very surprised when I first heard about the A list/B list system, too. It’s not prevalent in my area, where large weddings are the norm. I would say, however, based on all the reading/chatting/emailing/newsgrouping I’ve done in the past year, that it is a fairly common and accepted practice in many areas and/or social groups. The system certainly is a way to keep a handle on your guest count, but personally I would rather scale the wedding up or down to the people you REALLY want to invite. Why bother to invite people from the B list if you didn’t want them there enough to put them on the A list? Peggy – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > : There are no rules and you never take chances with your guestlist. You > : never invite more than you can afford to invite or the place will > : hold. That’s why you have two lists, A and B. When you get a refusal > : from the A list, you send out one from the B list until your quota is > : full. It’s a full-proof way to keep control of your guestlist without > : having to worry about the outcome. It only makes sense. > You’ve got to be kidding! And you write a wedding planning book? Two guest > lists is the absolutely the most rude practice I have ever heard off. How > do you think the guests on the B list feel? This practice doesn’t make any > sense at all. One bride I know had one sister on the A list and the other > sisters on the B list. Of course, the sisters had a great time discussing > how rude and tacky this bride was amongst themselves. Nothing was ever > said to the bride. Since she hadn’t talk to any of the sisters in over > 5 years, the sisters decided it was just a gift grab (the bride also > included her registry info with the invitation). Maybe she got this idea > from Debbie’s book and the sisters shouldn’t be to hard on the poor bride. > Kelly. > —
_/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Duke University _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ Studies
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>The "B" list will probably figure it out when they get their invitations at >the last minute while the "A" people got theirs well in advance. The >two-list approach is impracticle as well as impolite. By the time you know >who’s not coming (many people are late with RSVP’ing) it’s too late to >invite the "B" people.
You would have to set a deadline for waiting for the RSVP cards to be returned. I would say get the A list out at least 6 1/2 weeks before the wedding then wait for only 2 weeks for the RSVPs to come in. Replace the regrets received during that time only …any longer would be impolite. I realize that many people won’t respond that quickly but maybe just enough regrets will come in to allow you to add a few more guest that you couldn’t fit in on the first mailing. I personally would not be offended by being on a B list as long as I was still invited in a timely manner.Just my opinion though.
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we were told by the reception hall to figure that about 15% to 20% of the people invited probably won’t show, or at least won’t send the rsvp card back. generally, if someone put down that they will attend, you can figure that they WILL attend, barring some crisis that may arise down the road. if they aren’t planning to go, then they’ll either state as much on the response card (which is proper), or not bother to send it back (which is highly improper). jen (& jeff) 9/19/99 red meat isn’t bad for you… fuzzy blue-green meat is bad for you.
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Well, Michael, if you wait to send out your invitations until the last minute, I suppose that’s true. You wouldn’t wait until the response deadline date to send out the B invitations. They go out as you receive regrets, and you should probably have a deadline as to what the latest date is you can send out B invtitations. Once the response deadline has passed, then I wouldn’t send out any more invitations. Let’s face it, you have a certain number of people you can afford to have at your wedding. Which means that there are people, who, unfortunately, although you would love to have them there, don’t take precedence over say, some people that your mother feels it’s very important to invite. Now, when one (or more) of your mother’s friends decline the invitation, suddenly, you are able to include the person you couldn’t before. It’s not that you want the people on the B list to be there any less than the people on the A list, it’s the compromises you must make with the families involved to accommodate as many of the friends and family as possible. There’s nothing rude or impolite about it. Rather, it seems the right way to do your best to include as many of the important people in your life as possible. Susan & Bruce 10/9/99 – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Generally, you don’t discuss who is on the A and B list with your guests. > The "B" list will probably figure it out when they get their invitations at > the last minute while the "A" people got theirs well in advance. The > two-list approach is impracticle as well as impolite. By the time you know > who’s not coming (many people are late with RSVP’ing) it’s too late to > invite the "B" people. > — > Michael Cohn > Good Vibrations Music > www.come.to/goodvibrations
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> Generally, you don’t discuss who is on the A and B list with your guests.
The "B" list will probably figure it out when they get their invitations at the last minute while the "A" people got theirs well in advance. The two-list approach is impracticle as well as impolite. By the time you know who’s not coming (many people are late with RSVP’ing) it’s too late to invite the "B" people. — Michael Cohn Good Vibrations Music www.come.to/goodvibrations
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>Two guest >lists is the absolutely the most rude practice I have ever heard off. How >do you think the guests on the B list feel? This practice doesn’t make any >sense at all. One bride I know had one sister on the A list and the other >sisters on the B list.
No offense Kelly but I disagree. The A list and B list is a good idea especially for people with a limited guest list. The problem is that you should never send a B list invite to members of the same family. Why one someone put some of their siblings on a B list? The person who did that was thoughtless. The B list should be reserved for maybe friends of parents or maybe even co-workers. Ideally everyone would be on the A list but sometimes that is not possible. The B list should be for those people who you really would like to have share in your day but can’t be sure that you will have a seat for them until all the mandatory people have been invited first. It would be more rude to over invite and not be able to comfortably accommodate all your guests. I just recommend that you try very hard to get that invitation in the mail at least 4 weeks before the wedding so it won’t seem like they were an afterthought. Above all be sensitive to your guests feelings…so if you think the A list B list idea isn’t a good idea don’t use it. Every situation is different…use what works for yours.
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Generally, you don’t discuss who is on the A and B list with your guests.
snip You’ve got to be kidding! And you write a wedding planning book? Two guest – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> lists is the absolutely the most rude practice I have ever heard off. How > do you think the guests on the B list feel? This practice doesn’t make any > sense at all. One bride I know had one sister on the A list and the other > sisters on the B list. Of course, the sisters had a great time discussing > how rude and tacky this bride was amongst themselves. Nothing was ever > said to the bride. Since she hadn’t talk to any of the sisters in over > 5 years, the sisters decided it was just a gift grab (the bride also > included her registry info with the invitation). Maybe she got this idea > from Debbie’s book and the sisters shouldn’t be to hard on the poor bride. > Kelly. > —
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: There are no rules and you never take chances with your guestlist. You : never invite more than you can afford to invite or the place will : hold. That’s why you have two lists, A and B. When you get a refusal : from the A list, you send out one from the B list until your quota is : full. It’s a full-proof way to keep control of your guestlist without : having to worry about the outcome. It only makes sense. You’ve got to be kidding! And you write a wedding planning book? Two guest lists is the absolutely the most rude practice I have ever heard off. How do you think the guests on the B list feel? This practice doesn’t make any sense at all. One bride I know had one sister on the A list and the other sisters on the B list. Of course, the sisters had a great time discussing how rude and tacky this bride was amongst themselves. Nothing was ever said to the bride. Since she hadn’t talk to any of the sisters in over 5 years, the sisters decided it was just a gift grab (the bride also included her registry info with the invitation). Maybe she got this idea from Debbie’s book and the sisters shouldn’t be to hard on the poor bride. Kelly. —
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>Caterers have told us that no matter what the response cards say, 70% of eligible guests >will come to the reception. We have invited over 350 people, 317 of whom are >eligible..that is, local, probably can come. But only about 2/3 rds have returned the >response cards, and we have a hunch that some have said "yes" to be "nice"! when they >really don’t plan on coming!!! Does qanyone have experience with the 70% rule? >Visit our website at http://home.att.net/~jzee
Hi… There are no rules and you never take chances with your guestlist. You never invite more than you can afford to invite or the place will hold. That’s why you have two lists, A and B. When you get a refusal from the A list, you send out one from the B list until your quota is full. It’s a full-proof way to keep control of your guestlist without having to worry about the outcome. It only makes sense. Deb McCoy, author, "For the Bride" And the NEWLY RELEASED, "The Elegant Wedding & The Budget-Savvy Bride (How To Have the Wedding of Your Dreams For Half the Price)" www.amazon.com; debmccoy.com; weddingpages.com
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Our caterer told us to subtract about 15-20%. We thought that was kind of a lot, so we subtracted 10% and came out perfect. This is mainly to account for kids and a few people who won’t show or won’t eat. We had a buffet. Caterers usually prepare about 5% more than requested, so do a compromise, like we did. If you think there are people who really won’t come who said they would (which I really doubt–we had about 4 people do this), then subtract for them. If they haven’t sent a response card back, then they probably are not coming. That was my experience. Good Luck. Kelli – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – > Caterers have told us that no matter what the response cards say, 70% of eligible guests > will come to the reception. We have invited over 350 people, 317 of whom are > eligible..that is, local, probably can come. But only about 2/3 rds have returned the > response cards, and we have a hunch that some have said "yes" to be "nice"! when they > really don’t plan on coming!!! Does qanyone have experience with the 70% rule? > Visit our website at http://home.att.net/~jzee
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>My question…what is involved in getting a tux? How long does it take, are >there 100 different styles? Do you think it’d be possible for Shawn to pick >a style here at home, get measured, then have the guys go and arrange for >their tuxes up north?
I went into the tux shop with my FH and his BM. I got a book from the tux shop at a local bridal fair. I knew what I wanted, showed them the picture and they measured the guys and had them try on the tux. Go to a local tux shop and grab a pamphlet. Discuss what you want with your FH and if he can’t make it you can start up the arrangments with the shop. The tux shop i chose also has an arrangment that if you have other people not in the area who need tuxes they give ya a lil envelope to have the long distance people go to their local tux shop and get measured. They just send the card to the tux shop and viola, you are done. We got the Mandarin style tux (has no collars or cummerbund) and the vests and cuffling thingers were free and it cost us 79.99 bucks each in Western Ny. Some of the tuxes were as low as 40 bucks.. but I knew exactly what I wanted and didn’t inquire into the lower costing ones… there was also a 5 dollar fee to clean it and tax and such and we pick up the tuxes 2 days ahead and return them the day after.. Just my experience… i hope this helps.. it was my first time in a tux shop.. woowoo
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I am an event planner based in the Pittsburgh area. How close to Pittsburgh will you be? Depending on how elegant a tux you want, Pittsburgh pricing will start at about $50 and go up from there. Of course, this all depends on where you look. and what brands you look for. You may be able to save some money by looking outside the city, just keep time constraints and travel distance for the groomsmen in mind. You may be able to find more information by searching my database: http://www.sensationalproductions.com – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – >Ugh, the lovely long-distance wedding >Shawn & I were planning on making a week long trip up north in may to finish >whatever planning couldn’t be done from a distance. In fact, I have a list >of at least 10 things to do, and the tuxes are one of them. >Well, the only week we have available, he may have to go to England. Most >of this I can do on my own, but we’re going to have to work something out >here >My question…what is involved in getting a tux? How long does it take, are >there 100 different styles? Do you think it’d be possible for Shawn to pick >a style here at home, get measured, then have the guys go and arrange for >their tuxes up north? >Lastly, can anybody give me an approximate on tux rental cost in the Pgh >area? >Thanks, sorry about so many questions! >Joy
Aaron M. Raffle, President Sensational Productions For more information, check out: http://www.sensationalproductions.com
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